The field of the present invention relates generally to mobile device applications. More particularly, it relates to use of credentials or other user information with such mobile applications.
The use of mobile applications on mobile devices, such as cellular phones or personal digital assistant (PDA) device, has increased dramatically in the last few years. A user may utilize any number and type of mobile application on his mobile device. Examples of mobile applications may include search engines, calendar applications, media organization applications, email, chat and messaging applications, etc. Several applications may be provided by a single service entity, such as Yahoo!, Inc.
Each application or set of applications may require specific user credentials prior to allowing a user to utilize such application or set of applications. For instance, one may login to their Yahoo! account and then gain access to various Yahoo! applications, such as email, messaging or chat applications, etc. Although one may enter user credentials via her mobile device to access various applications, the process of entering credentials on a mobile device can be difficult and cumbersome, given the typical mobile device's limited input mechanisms. Other types of devices (e.g., non-mobile devices, televisions, display devices that do not include keyboards, etc.) may also have a limited input mechanism for entering user credentials or gaining access to other types of web services or a user account. Additionally, a user may not wish to enter confidential credentials via his mobile device's mobile application since the user may not trust the particular mobile device's application. For instance, the user may be uncomfortable with not knowing exactly what the mobile application will do with her user credentials.
Accordingly, improved mechanisms for facilitating a device to access a web service or user account are needed.